Chapter 30 Leveling Up
By the time the coffee had kicked in and the dishes were cleaned, the cabin was buzzing with its usual energy, tempered only slightly by the fact that today was their last full day here.
I leaned against the doorway between the kitchen and living room, sipping my second cup of coffee and watching the guys move around. Patrick stood at the dining table, carefully packing up a few files and closing his laptop. Drew moved past him with a folded blanket under one arm, heading toward the laundry room. Josh had already opened the windows to let in some fresh air despite the cold, letting a crisp breeze filter through the space.
Jake and Mike were sprawled out on the couch, tangled in the kind of petty, ridiculous argument that only came from being too well-rested and too competitive. Something about whose turn it was to pick the next game.
"You picked Mario Kart yesterday. That was your choice," Mike insisted, pointing at Jake with the remote.
Jake scoffed. "And you picked Smash Bros before that, which means it’s my turn. You keep trying to double-dip."
I grinned. "You know I could just pick for you."
Both of them paused, turning in unison to look at me. Jake recovered first. "Yes. Yes, that’s exactly what should happen. Emmy is the tie-breaker. It’s in the girlfriend contract."
I blinked innocently. "Is there fine print I missed?"
Patrick walked past with a quiet smirk. "It’s called having five boyfriends, love. Pretty sure you’re the CEO of this operation."
"If I’m the CEO, I’m taking bribes," I announced, finishing my coffee and setting the mug down. “Start pitching. Winner gets to pick the next game.”
Mike leaned forward, as if presenting a case to the Supreme Court. "If you let me pick, I will make the world's cheesiest grilled cheese for lunch. I’m talking five-cheese blend. Buttered edges. Crispy crust."
Jake groaned. "You son of a...okay, okay. If I get to pick, I will not only make the grilled cheese and cut them diagonally, but I’ll also clean up afterward. And I’ll even bring you hot cocoa during the game."
I crossed my arms and tilted my head. “Add marshmallows. Mini ones.”
Jake snapped his fingers. "Done."
I pointed at him like I’d just made a game-winning call. “We have a winner.”
Mike groaned and flopped backward onto the couch, muttering about betrayal.
Patrick chuckled as he passed through again, dropping a kiss on the top of my head. “Remind me never to go up against you in negotiations.”
“Smart man.”
The rest of the morning passed in a cozy blur of tangled limbs on the couches and video game trash talk. Josh and Drew joined us halfway through a Mario Party round, and somehow Drew, who claimed he didn’t even play video games, wiped the floor with all of us.
Jake tossed his controller in the air. “He’s hustling. This man is a silent assassin.”
Drew just sipped his hot cocoa and shrugged.
Later, while the guys were working on lunch, Patrick handed me a small velvet pouch with a sly smile. I opened it to find another charm for the bracelet he’d given me at the start of the trip, the same night they proposed.
It was a tiny silver snowflake with delicate filigree in the center.
“I figured this one might be a little on the nose,” he said, a little sheepish.
I shook my head, already unclasping the bracelet to add the charm. “It’s perfect.”
He reached out and brushed my hair back from my shoulder, fingers lingering just long enough to make my heart skip. “This trip… I just wanted it to be something you’d never forget.”
I looked up at him. “You proposed. I’d say you nailed that already.”
Patrick chuckled, but his expression softened. “Still. You’ve changed everything for us, Em. For me.”
I leaned in and kissed him softly. “You’ve changed everything for me, too.”
After lunch, we took a walk outside, bundled in layers, gloves, and scarves. The fresh snow from the night before glittered in the sun, and we took turns slipping on patches of ice, hurling snowballs, and laughing like we were kids again. Mike carried me halfway back to the cabin when I tripped in a drift, tossing me over his shoulder with a victorious shout while the others heckled him.
“Careful,” Drew warned dryly. “You break her, you have to deal with the rest of us.”
“I’m not breakable,” I called over Mike’s shoulder.
“You’re ours,” Josh said, catching up. “Same thing.”
Back at the cabin, the mood settled into that soft, contented quiet that came after a day well spent. Jake built a fire in the fireplace, Drew made tea, and we all piled onto the oversized sectional in the living room.
I was draped across Patrick and Mike, with Jake at my feet, and Josh behind me, his arm curled protectively around my waist. Drew took the floor next to us, leaning against the couch with one hand curled loosely around mine.
Outside, the sky had gone dusky and purple, and the first stars had started to peek through the tree line.
“I don’t want to go back,” I murmured, mostly to myself.
“You won’t have to go back alone,” Josh said quietly. “That part’s over.”
Jake nodded. “We’re in this with you. All of it.”
Patrick squeezed my hand. “Whatever the next chapter looks like—we’ll write it together.”
And just like that, the last day didn’t feel like an ending.
It felt like the start of something even better.